Advait Sharma
Book a free call with Advait
Advait’s intro
A few thoughtful questions or specific comments can completely change the way a student approaches an essay, and I've seen that happen enough times to know what shifts a draft from generic to memorable. I'm a first-year at UC Berkeley studying Data Science and Economics.
Over the past few years, I've helped friends and younger students with their Common App essays and UC PIQs, and the pattern I notice is that most students start by trying to sound impressive rather than real. The work I do is asking the questions that get them talking about what actually mattered in an experience, then showing them how to turn those ideas into writing that sounds like them. I don't rewrite essays. I give honest, specific feedback on what's working and what reads flat, and I leave the student space to develop their own voice. My students have gotten into Brown, NYU, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, University of Michigan, and UVA.
I went through this process recently myself, choosing Berkeley over Michigan, Northeastern, UIUC, Purdue, Cal Poly, and UW, so I know how it feels to stare at a supplement prompt at midnight and wonder if anything you write will matter. It does, but only if it sounds like you wrote it. If you're interested, book me for free and I'll give you your child's read.
Common questions
Before you book
What does this cost?
We are flexible, and there is a plan here that fits your family. You hear your number on the first call, before anything is agreed. What changes between plans is the kind of experience in the room: a current undergraduate at a school your student is applying to, someone who interviewed applicants for a university as an alumni volunteer, or a former admissions officer who read files and sat in committee. Every one of them is somebody we would put in front of our own family.
Do we need to know what we want before the call?
No, and most families book before they have decided anything. That is the useful time to talk. An hour, no charge, and you will come off the call knowing what we can do for your student.
How many students does one counselor take?
Few enough that the person you meet is the person who reads the drafts. Every counselor sets their own cap and prints it on their page, so you know exactly how much of their year you are getting. If your first choice is full we will introduce you to someone on the roster who suits your student just as well.
Our student is already a senior. Is it too late?
It is not too late. Several counselors here run compressed engagements and take seniors into the autumn, and there is usually more still open in a file than a family expects. Tell us where your student is on the call and we will tell you what we can do with it.
Book a call
How the call is booked.
Advait reads your student’s file and builds the plan. The call is an hour-long video call and costs nothing.
Book a free call with AdvaitAdvait reads what you tell us about your student before the call, so it starts there rather than at the beginning.
If something changes
The agreement is held by Aristo Scholars rather than by Advait personally. If Advait cannot finish the cycle we move your student to another counselor on this roster at the price you were already quoted, and everything written down so far moves with them.
Where Advait’s students got in.
Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by UC Berkeley or any other institution named on this page. Advait Sharma is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, speaking only as an individual, with no role in its admissions office and no influence over any admissions decision.